Revisit the 1985 Cotton Bowl

At this time of year I am used to watching BC in a secondary bowl. This year we got nothing. So I thought it was a good time to rewatch BC's biggest bowl game of the modern era. Below is the full 1985 Cotton Bowl. It was Flutie's last game and BC's last New Year's Day Bowl. The Cotton lost a little prestige when the Southwest Conference dissolved, but this was a huge deal at the time. Enjoy and hopefully we are back in a real bowl next season. 

The fake Cotton Bowl is better than the real Independence Bowl

The news of the day is that Bates is working the back channels to get BC into the Heart of Dallas Bowl instead of the ACC-affiliated Independence Bowl. This makes sense on so many level that I expect something to happen this weekend to screw it up.

Although the game is played in the actual Cotton Bowl, the actual Cotton Bowl game is now played in Jerry's World in Arlington. This game was created to keep the building full and justify its recent renovations. But the bowl has a lot going for it. First it is played in a major city with a decent BC Alumni population. Second it is played on January 1. While it may be the least important January 1 game, it would still allow BC to be part of the biggest day in college football. And 99% of our fans would have the day off and be able to watch it live.

Other than its confusing history and identity, the only real drawback to Dallas game would be the opponent. Due to the Conference USA affiliation, the other team is likely to be Rice or North Texas. However, there is no guarantee that the Independence Bowl will find a better opponent.

In theory the Independence Bowl could pair up its ACC rep with an at large Pac 12 team. That would be ideal, but I don't see it happening. The Independence Bowl needs to sell some tickets and BC vs Oregon State will bring no one to Shreveport. The more likely outcome it that the Independence Bowl backfills with another regional mid-major team that might sell tickets. That would leave BC in an undesirable location in an undesirable timeslot vs an unappealing opponent. Do you think we'd sell any tickets for that? Let Pitt or Syracuse bear the brunt of triple whammy.

Nitpicking aspects of bowls is a nice problem to have again. But if BC is playing Rice on New Year's Day in the Cotton Bowl, I won't complain.